Suture thread

ABSTRACT

A suture thread is used to perform suturing without tying part of or the whole of knots that are supposed to be tied during suturing. A suture thread support body prevents an end of the suture thread from being pulled into a suturing site. A needle accommodation body has a shape of a tube having a through-hole through both ends. The suture thread has the suture thread support body and the needle accommodation body.

This application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser.No. 14/003,390 filed on Sep. 5, 2013, which is a national phaseapplication under 35 USC §371 of PCT International Patent ApplicationNo. PCT/KR2012/001643 filed on Mar. 7, 2012, which claims the benefit ofpriority from Korean Patent Application Nos. 10-2011-0019895 filed onMar. 7, 2011 and 10-2011-0064084 filed on Jun. 29, 2011.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a suture thread used for a surgicaloperation and a suturing method using the suture thread, and moreparticularly, to a suture thread that does not require a knottingprocedure during a suture operation, a method of manufacturing thesuture thread, and a suturing method using the suture thread.

BACKGROUND ART

In a suturing process performed for various surgical operation such assuturing of damaged muscles, blood vessels, nerves, injuries, orsurgical cuts, double eyelid surgery, wrinkles plastic surgery, etc. atime-consuming, annoying, and very important work greatly affecting aresult of surgery is a process of tying a knot to prevent the release ofa suture thread after suturing a suturing site. During a suturingprocess, a knot is provided to prevent the release of a suture at astart portion and an ending portion of a suture or at a middle portionif necessary.

Since to shorten an operation time and complete an operation as quick aspossible is very important, suturing and knotting techniques areessential for stable and efficient operations. However, it is not easyto quickly tie a knot at a distance by using tools to bond a suturingsite in a body during an operation using a laparoscope, an endoscope, oran arthroscope, for example.

Conventionally, to tie a knot of a suture thread during suturing, anoperator uses two tools to fix or wrap a suture thread while holding thesuture thread. Since a large space is needed to manipulate the twotools, an operator needs to be highly experienced to shorten a surgerysuture time as short as possible within a limited space such as theabdominal cavity. Thus, a method and a suturing tool, for example, atool having a great degree of freedom such as a Cambridge endo, a Realhand, a Radius surgical system, etc., or robots to easily, quickly, andfirmly tie a suture thread into a knot in a limited space have beendeveloped.

Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2006-25867 discloses a suturethread for a surgery in which a suture thread is woven to be hollowinside in a lengthwise direction and a suturing tip is coupled to bothend portions of the suture thread. Japanese Patent Laid-open PublicationNo. 2003-19683 discloses a surgical robot for ligation and suturing toprevent damage to tissue of a living body. However, a surgical robotsuch as a Davinci robot system that may facilitate suturing and knottingin an endoscope operation is very expensive and requires a largeinstallation space, which discourages a wide use thereof. Thus, there isa demand to develop a suturing method that may be easily used at a lowercost and a suture thread and needle to enable the method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Problem

The present invention provides a method of quickly and easily suturingin a limited space in a surgical operation, a tool for the method(suture thread support body, needle accommodation body, a suture threadincluding suture thread support body and/or needle accommodation body),and a method of manufacturing the tool.

The present invention provides a suture thread developed to performsuturing without tying some or all of knots that are supposed to be tiedduring suturing, and a manufacturing method thereof, a suture threadsupport body needed therefor, a needling accommodation body, and asuturing method using the same.

Technical Solution

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided asupport body for preventing a tip end of a suture thread from beingpulled into skin or tissue during suturing, and a suture thread in whichthe support body is coupled to an end of the suture thread. The otherend of the suture thread in which the support body is coupled to the endpasses through skin or tissue of a suturing site by a suture needle andthus suturing is performed. When suturing with the suture thread, thesupport body works as a knot and thus the end of the suture thread towhich the support body is coupled is fixed at a portion where thesuturing starts. Thus, since there is no worry of untying of the suture,no more knotting is needed in a suturing process. Also, the end of thesuture thread may be fixed to the skin or tissue more firmly than a caseof a suture thread only having a knot.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda needle accommodation body having a shape of a tube having athrough-hole through both ends, and a suture thread having the needleaccommodation body. The needle accommodation body may have a shape of atruncated circular cone or truncated pyramid in which a diameter of athrough-hole increases from one end portion to the other end portion ora shape of a circular column or a prism in which a diameter of athrough-hole is constant. The needle accommodation body may be formed ofa firm material or a flexible material if necessary. The suture needleis inserted in the needle accommodation body. The suture needle coupledto the needle accommodation body has a shape of part of the needle mainbody fitting to the through-hole of the needle accommodation body. Thesuture needle may have a shape in which part of the needle main body hasa diameter larger than that of a bottom end portion of the needleaccommodation body. The suture needle may be pulled from the bottom endportion of the needle accommodation body to be removed from the needleaccommodation body. The suture needle is connected to the needleaccommodation body.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda suture thread having a needle accommodation body and a suture needlein which part of the needle main body of the suture needle coupled tothe needle accommodation body is formed larger than the bottom endportion (end portion having a relatively larger diameter) of the needleaccommodation body. The needle accommodation body may have a shape of atube having a through-hole through both ends, a shape of a truncatedcircular cone or truncated pyramid in which a diameter of a through-holeincreases from one end portion to the other end portion, a shape of acircular column or a prism in which a diameter of a through-hole isconstant. The suture thread is connected to the needle accommodationbody. The suture needle may be pulled from the bottom end portion of theneedle accommodation body to be removed from the needle accommodationbody.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of manufacturing a support body and/or a needle accommodationbody.

When the suture thread having the needle accommodation body is in use,in the final step of suturing, the suture needle is penetrated into orinserted into other tissue around a suturing site from the needleaccommodation body into the tissue. Then, the suture needle is pulledfrom the bottom end of the needle accommodation body and thus removedtherefrom. Accordingly, the needle accommodation body removed of thesuture needle remains in the tissue and the suture thread used forsuturing is still coupled to the needle accommodation body. As a result,a suture is not untied even without making a knot at a final portion ofthe suturing.

Advantageous Effects

According to the present invention, a suture thread may facilitate astable suture without tying a knot. When a suture thread with a supportbody and/or needle accommodation body is in use, an effect of a firmknot may be obtained without spending time to tie a knot. Accordingly, asuture time may be remarkably reduced through a simple suture technique.Also, without employing a suturing technique requiring experience, asuture operation may be stably and easily performed.

Furthermore, when the suture thread according to the present inventionis in use, since a suture operation may be completed with only one tool.Thus, even when an area to be treated using an endoscope is small,suture may be performed quickly and accurately.

Furthermore, when a suture thread, a suturing method, a needleaccommodation body, and a support body of the present invention are madeof a material that may be absorbed by a living body, a process ofremoving the elements after an operation may be unnecessary.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates suture threads having various support bodiesaccording to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a suture thread having a support body and a needleaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a needle accommodation body according to anembodiment of the present invention and a suture thread having theneedle accommodation body, in which FIG. 3 illustrates that a needle isinserted in a needle accommodation body that is coupled to a suturethread, FIG. 3C illustrates a needle accommodation body according to anembodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3D illustrates a method ofcoupling a needle accommodation body and a suture thread.

FIG. 4 illustrates the shapes of a needle accommodation body and aneedle according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a suture thread with a needle accommodation bodyprovided at each of both end portions.

FIG. 6 illustrates a variety of suture threads to which a support bodyand a needle accommodation body are coupled respectively to one endportion and the other end portion of a suture thread.

FIG. 7 illustrates that a suture thread forming a loop is connected to aneedle accommodation body according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a barbed suture thread according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates a suture thread with a cone and a knot according toan embodiment of the present invention.

LIST OF MAJOR REFERENCE NUMERALS

10: suture thread 20: needle accommodation body 21: bottom end portionof needle accommodation body 22: front end portion of needleaccommodation body 23: hole of needle accommodation body 30: sutureneedle 31: needle main body 32: needle tip 33: stepped portion of needlemain body 34: needle hole 40: support body 41: hole of support body 42:knot 50: barb 51: cone

BEST MODE

The present invention will now be described more fully with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of theinvention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as being limited to theembodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art. In thedrawings, a needle portion is exaggerated for easy understanding of theinvention. It may be understood that the length of a thread connected toa needle or a needle accommodation body is quite long in actual use.

FIG. 1 illustrates suture threads 10 having various support bodies 40according to embodiments of the present invention. The support body hasa diameter larger than that of the suture thread and a shape such as astick, a ball, a circular column, a circular cone, a pyramid, atruncated circular cone or truncated pyramid, a disc, a plate, apolyhedron, etc. The present invention is not limited thereto and thesupport body may have any shape and size that supports the suture threadso that an end portion of the suture thread is prevented from beingpulled into a suturing site. The support body may be a uniform solidmatter or may have at least one hole in both end portions of the supportbody. For example, the support body is a truncated circular cone and hasa through-hole through both ends of the support body. The diameter ofthe hole or cavity is greater than that of a suture thread in use. Thesupport body may be formed of a material such as nylon, polypropylene,for example, MESH, poly(vinyldene fluoride), polyester, stainless steel,titanium, etc, that is not absorbed by a living body, but the presentinvention is not limited thereto. Also, the support body may be formedof an absorbable material according to a purpose thereof. For example,polylactic acid, polydiaxonone, copolymer of lactic acid and glycolicacid, etc. may be used, but the present invention is not limitedthereto. When a material that may be absorbable by a living body isused, the support body does not need to be removed after suturing ahuman body.

A method of coupling the suture thread and the support body includes amethod of melting and bonding an end portion of a suture thread and/or aportion of a support body to be coupled to the suture thread, a methodof forming at least one hole, for example, holes 41 of FIG. 8C, in asupport body, passing a suture thread through the hole, and tying suturethreads together or tying a knot 42 of the suture thread to have adiameter greater than that of the hole of the support body, and a methodof passing a suture thread passing through one hole to the oppositedirection through another hole. However, the present invention is notlimited thereto and a variety of methods may be employed (FIG. 1).

The suture thread having the support body of the present invention isused by being inserted in suturing needle or coupled to a needleaccommodation body. A suture needle in use may be formed of a materialsuch as metal that is not absorbed or an absorbable material such aspolydioxanone (PDS). The suture needle may have a linear or curved shapeoverall. A needle tip may have a generally and widely used shape such asround or cut appearance.

A method of coupling the suture thread to the suture needle includes amethod of inserting a suture thread in a hollow needle main body andpressing a needle, a method of forming a hole (needle eye) in a needleand inserting a suture thread in the hole, and a method of cutting agroove in a wall of a needle having a cavity and guiding a suture threadon the groove. However, the present invention is not limited thereto andother various methods may be employed therefor.

When suturing with a suture thread having the above-described supportbody, there is no need to separately tie a knot on a suture startportion and also the suture thread may be more firmly fixed than in acase of only tying a knot. This is useful not only for suturing an outerpart of a human body but also for suturing an internal part of the humanbody such as an endoscope operation.

FIG. 2 illustrates the suture thread having the support body and asuturing needle according to an embodiment of the present invention.Referring to FIG. 2, a truncated circular cone type support body havinga through-hole through both ends thereof is used. When a bottom surfaceof a support body having a larger diameter, like the support body, isarranged to face the suture needle, a firm knot effect may be obtained.

FIG. 3 illustrates a needle accommodation body according to anembodiment of the present invention and a suture thread having theneedle accommodation body. Referring to FIG. 3, the needle accommodationbody 20 is coupled to the suture thread 10 of the present invention. Theneedle accommodation body 20 has a shape of a tube with a through-holethrough both ends thereof and also has a shape of a truncated circularcone or truncated pyramid in which a diameter of a through-holeincreases from one end to the other end. The diameter of thethrough-hole of the needle accommodation body 20 is adjusted such that aneedle may pass through and be inserted in the through-hole consideringthe diameter of a suturing needle to be used.

A method of coupling the suture thread to the needle accommodation bodyincludes a method of melting an end of a suture thread and/or part of aneedle accommodation body to be coupled to the suture thread to adherethe suture thread and the needle accommodation body and a method offorming at least one hole in a needle accommodation body, inserting asuture thread in the hole, and tying the suture thread into a knot ortying suture threads together. However, the present invention is notlimited thereto and other various methods may be used therefor.

The suture needle 30 is coupled to the needle accommodation body. Thesuture needle 30 used in the present invention includes a needle mainbody 31 and a needle tip 32 formed at one end of the needle main body.The needle main body is formed to have a diameter that graduallyincreases from the needle tip to the other end of the needle main body.The suture needle is inserted in the needle accommodation body to whichthe suture thread is coupled and suturing is performed. At the finalstep of suturing, the suture needle penetrates other tissue around asuturing site, or penetrates or pierces other tissue around the suturingsite so as to advance the needle accommodation body into the tissue.Then, the suture needle may be removed by pulling the suture needletoward a bottom end portion 21 of the needle accommodation body.Accordingly, the needle accommodation body without the suture needle 30is left in the tissue and the suture thread used for suturing is stillcoupled to the needle accommodation body, and thus, suturing may notcome untied without tying a knot at the final step of suturing.

Since the needle accommodation body has a shape of a circular cone orpyramid in which the diameter of the through-hole increases from one endportion to the other end portion of the needle accommodation body, partof the needle main body inserted in the needle accommodation body alsohas a diameter that gradually increases toward the other end thereof.Thus, when the suture thread is pulled after the suture needle isinserted into a suturing site during the suturing process, the sutureneedle is not disassembled from the needle accommodation body. To thisend, the through-hole of the needle accommodation body has a size enoughto accommodate the suture needle. Also, the size of the through-hole ata front end portion 22 of the needle accommodation body is less thanthat of a portion of the needle main body having a maximum diameter.

FIG. 4 illustrates the shapes of the needle accommodation body and thesuture needle according to another embodiment of the present invention.As the needle accommodation body and part of the or the whole needlemain body of the suture needle is formed larger than a bottom endportion of the needle accommodation body, a step is formed and thus thesuture needle is prevented from being disassembled from the needleaccommodation body when during suturing the suture needle is pulled in adirection in which suturing is performed. The needle accommodation bodyhas a shape of a tube with a through-hole through both ends thereof andalso has a shape of a truncated circular cone or truncated pyramid inwhich a diameter of a through-hole increases from one end to the otherend (FIG. 4A) or has a shape of a circular column or a prism in which adiameter of a through-hole is constant (FIG. 4B). The suture thread iscoupled to the needle accommodation body in the above-described method.

The suture needle used in the present invention may generally have astraight or curved shape. The needle tip may have a generally and widelyused shape such as round or cutted appearance. The length and thicknessof the needle tip may be adjusted suitably for a purpose thereof.

The needle accommodation body of the present invention may be formed ofa material that is absorbable by a living body, for example, polylacticacid, polydiaxonone, copolymer of lactic acid and glycolic acid, etc,but the present invention is not limited thereto.

The present invention includes the suture thread of FIG. 5 to which theneedle accommodation body is coupled to both ends of the suture thread,the suture thread of FIGS. 1-3 and 6-8 to which the needle accommodationbody is coupled to one end of the suture thread and/or the support bodyis coupled to the other end thereof, and the suture thread of FIG. 9 towhich the support bodies are coupled to both ends of the suture thread.

The suture thread used in the present invention includes a variety ofshapes that are well known in the technical field to which the presentinvention pertains. The suture thread of the present invention mayconsist of one or two threads and may include at least one loop portion(FIGS. 6 and 7). FIG. 7A illustrates that the suture needle is insertedin the needle accommodation body. FIG. 7B illustrates that the sutureneedle is removed from the needle accommodation body.

In the present invention, a monofilament suture thread or a twistedsuture thread, or a monofilament suture thread or twisted suture threadhaving barbs or cogs formed on an outer surface of the suture thread,may be used as the suture thread. A barbed suture thread is disclosed inKorean Patent Publication Nos. 10-2008-39345 and 10-2005-0108494, KoreanUtility Model Publication No. 20-320005, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,855,the contents of which are incorporated in the present specification byreference. A barb may be arranged on a fiber according to a necessaryconfiguration and may be formed by an appropriate method includingwell-known items in the technical field to which the present inventionpertains. The methods may use a knife or laser, injection molding bypress molding, stamping, or cutting. A required number of acute-angledcuts are made in a suture thread. The size of a barb may be adjustedsuitably for a purpose within a reasonable range of the technical fieldto which the present invention pertains. For example, the depth of abarb formed in a suture thread may be about 30-100 microns, which may beadjusted according to the diameter of a suture thread. The intervalbetween barbs formed on the outer surface of a suture thread may be 100microns to 1 mm or higher.

FIG. 8 illustrates a barbed suture thread according to an embodiment ofthe present invention. Referring to FIG. 8A, two or more suture threads,each suture thread having a plurality of barbs that are inclined in thesame direction in the front half portion and the rear half portionthereof at an angle of less than 90° or greater than 90° and less than180° with respect to the lengthwise axis of the suture thread, arecombined together. Then, one end of each of the suture threads iscoupled to the suture needle and the other end of each of the suturethreads is coupled to the support body. As another embodiment, referringto FIG. 8B, one or more suture threads having the barbs formed on thesuture thread to be inclined in the opposite directions in the fronthalf and rear half portions, for example, the barbs in the front halfportion being all inclined at an angle of less than 90° with respect tothe lengthwise axis of the suture thread toward the front end of thesuture thread and the barbs in the rear half portion being all inclinedat an angle of less than 90° with respect to the lengthwise axis of thesuture thread toward the rear end of the suture thread, are half foldedafter passing through an eye of the suture needle. Then, both ends ofeach of the suture threads are coupled to the support body, or one endof each of the folded suture threads is inserted in the suture needleand pressed thereon and the other end thereof is coupled to the supportbody. Referring to FIG. 8C, the inclination directions of the barbs ofthe suture thread are different from those of the barbs of the suturethread of FIG. 8B. In this case, the suture thread is half folded afterpassing through the holes of the support body and two ends of the suturethread are coupled to the suture needle. For example, two, three, orfour suture threads with barbs may be used and the number of suturethreads may be adjusted according to the thickness or purpose of use ofthe suture thread. The directions of the barbs of the suture thread areschematically illustrated on the right side of each of FIGS. 8A, 8B and8C. In an example of the suture thread of the present inventionmanufactured as above, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the barbs are inclinedtoward the support body, thus forming an acute angle with the lengthwisedirection of the suture thread. When the barbs have the above shape,during suturing, the suture thread may smoothly proceed forward and alsothe barbs prevents the suture thread from proceeding in the oppositedirection to a direction of the suturing. When the suture needle is cutoff after finishing the suturing, the suture thread is not released dueto the barbs and thus no knotting is needed. As such, when two or moresuture threads with barbs are used by being coupled to the support bodyand/or the needle accommodation body, no knotting is needed and a morefirm knotting effect may be obtained. Furthermore, compared to a case ofusing a suture thread with barbs that is typically used, one thread maysnap during suturing because the strength of the suture thread isreduced to about half or more. However, when two or more suture threadsare used, the strength of the suture threads may be increased to doubleor more and thus the suture threads may be less snapped. Furthermore,since the number of barbs or the contact surface of each barb areincreased to double or more, more firm suturing may be obtained and thesuture thread may be prevented from proceeding backward.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the support body iscoupled to one end of the suture thread and the suture needle is coupledto the other end thereof, and a support body or the cone having a shapeof a truncated circular cone or truncated pyramid and having athrough-hole through both ends of the support body is inserted in thesuture thread at a position close to the suture needle, as illustratedin FIG. 9. A truncated circular cone exhibiting less friction is moresuitable as the cone. The cone is arranged such that a portion having asmaller diameter (front end) may face the suture needle and two knots Aand B, each having a diameter larger than that of the front end, arerespectively formed in front and rear of the front end (FIGS. 9A and9B). The two knots A and B are formed close to each other. The knot Aprevents the cone from escaping after suturing and the suture needle isremoved. The knot B prevents the cone from being pushed backward duringsuturing. Even when suturing is completed and the suturing needle isremoved, the cone is left at the end of the suturing thread. Thus, thereis no need to make a knot after suturing and also there is no worryabout untying of the suture thread. Another truncated circular cone orpyramid may be further provided in front of the knot A with a surfacehaving a smaller diameter (front end) facing the suturing needle.Accordingly, the knot A may easily pass through tissue during suturingand thus suturing may be easily performed (FIG. 9B). A front cone isremoved together when the suturing needle is removed after suturing andthus the knot A and the back cone may prevent the suturing thread frombeing released like FIG. 9A. The cone may be formed of, for example, anabsorbable material such as copolymer of L-Lactide and Glycolide or anon-absorbable material such as polypropylene. The length of the conemay be, for example, about 1-10 mm. However, the present invention isnot limited thereto and the length may be adjusted according to a sitefor use and purpose. The diameter of the through-hole through both endsof the support body of the cone may be, for example, about 0.1-2 mm atthe front end having a relatively smaller diameter and about 0.5-5 mm atthe rear end having a relatively larger diameter. However, the presentinvention is not limited thereto and the diameter may be adjustedaccording to a thickness and purpose of a suture thread.

In the suture thread with the barbs, one end of which is coupled to thesupport body (for example, FIG. 8), or the suture thread, one end ofwhich is coupled to the support body and having a knot and cone formedat a portion close to a portion connected to the suture needle (forexample, FIG. 9), provided according to the present invention, the otherend of the suture thread that is not coupled to the support body may becoupled to the needle accommodation body or may be coupled directly tothe suture needle for use. When the needle accommodation bodyfunctioning as a knot in a suturing site where suturing is completed isnot used, the suture thread may not escape due to the barbs or the coneeven when the suture needle is removed after suturing.

The suture thread provided according to the present invention may beformed of a non-absorbable material such as polypropylene, gold,stainless steel, titanium, nylon, polyvinyliden fluoride, polyester,braided silk, etc. or an absorbable material such as polydiaxonene, butthe present invention is not limited thereto.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method ofmanufacturing a suture thread having a support body and/or a needleaccommodation body includes operations of coupling one end of the suturethread to the support body and coupling the other end of the suturethread to the suture needle or the needle accommodation body.

The coupling of the suture thread to the support body includes applyingheat to one end of the suture thread and/or the support body to melt thesame and combining the suture thread and the support body having any oneend or both ends melted. The coupling of the suture thread to thesupport body may additionally include lowering a temperature of aportion where the suture thread and the support body are coupled to eachother. Furthermore, the method may include passing the suture threadthrough a hole formed in the support body or through a through-hole andthen tying a knot on the suture thread to have a diameter larger thanthat of the hole of the support body or the through-hole. Furthermore,the method may include passing the suture thread through the hole formedin the support body or through the through-hole and then passing thesuture thread in the opposite direction through another hole formed inthe support body. When two suture threads are used, the presentinvention may include passing the suture threads through the hole formedin the support body or through the through-hole and then tying thesuture threads together or tying the suture threads into a knot.

The coupling of the suture thread to the suture needle may includeputting a suture thread in a suture needle having a through-hole formedtherein and pressing the suture needle, inserting a suture thread in ahole formed in a suture needle, or hanging a suture thread on a cutformed in a wall of a suture needle having a through-hole.

The coupling of the suture thread to the needle accommodation body mayinclude bonding by melting an end of the suture thread and/or part ofthe needle accommodation body to be coupled to the suture thread, andinserting the suture thread in at least one hole formed in the needleaccommodation body and tying the suture thread into a knot or tying thesuture thread together to be larger than the diameter of the hole.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method ofmanufacturing a suture thread includes operations of combining twosuture threads, each suture thread having a plurality of barbs that areinclined in the same direction in the front half portion and the rearhalf portion of the suture thread, and coupling one end of each suturethread to a support body and the other end to a suture needle. Also, inanother embodiment of the present invention, a suture thread havingbarbs that are inclined in the opposite directions in the front and rearhalf portions of the suture thread is half folded and then one end ofthe suture thread is coupled to a support body and the other end iscoupled to a suture needle.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a method ofmanufacturing a suture thread includes operations of coupling a supportbody to one end of the suture thread, tying the suture thread into aknot at a portion close to the other end of the suture thread, insertinga truncated circular cone or truncated pyramid that has a through-holethrough both ends thereof in the suture thread at the front side of aknot formed on the suture thread to have a front end having a relativelysmaller diameter face a suture needle, tying the suture thread into aknot in front of the cone, and coupling the other end of the suturethread to the suture needle. The method may further include inserting anadditional cone between the suture needle and the knot in front of thecone to have the front end having a relatively smaller diameter face thesuture needle.

A suture thread formed by the above method is within a scope of thepresent invention. A method of suturing using a suture thread having aneedle accommodation body according to the present invention includesoperations of sewing a suturing site using a suture needle provided inthe needle accommodation body to which the suture thread is coupled,advancing the suture needle through tissue around an end portion of thesuturing site so that the needle accommodation body is buried in orpasses through the tissue, and removing the suture needle by pulling thesuture needle toward a bottom end portion of the needle accommodationbody. When the needle accommodation body with the suture thread isburied in the tissue and fixed therein, an end of the suture thread isalso connected to the needle accommodation body. Thus, there is no worryabout untying of the suture thread and there is no need to tie a knot.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The suture thread, the needle accommodation body, and the suture threadsupport body according to the present invention may be useful forsuturing in various surgical operations such as suturing of damagedmuscles, blood vessels, nerves, injuries, or surgical cuts, doubleeyelid surgery, wrinkles plastic surgery, etc.

1. A suture thread having a needle accommodation body coupled to one endthereof, wherein the needle accommodation body has a shape of a tubehaving a through-hole through both ends or a shape of a tube having athrough-hole through both ends in which a diameter of the through-holeincreases from one end portion to the other end portion, no hole isprovided in a wall surface of the needle accommodation body or one ormore holes are provided in the wall surface of the needle accommodationbody, and a suture needle is inserted in the through-hole.
 2. The suturethread of claim 1, wherein the needle accommodation body is coupled toboth ends of the suture thread.
 3. The suture thread of claim 1, whereinthe other end of the suture thread is coupled to a suture thread supportbody that is coupled to one end of the suture thread, has a diameterlarger than that of the suture thread, has one or more holes throughwhich the suture thread passes, and prevents the end of the suturethread from being pulled into skin or tissue.
 4. The suture thread ofclaim 3, wherein the needle accommodation body, the suture threadsupport body, or the suture thread is formed of a material that isabsorbable by a living body.
 5. The suture thread of claim 3, whereinthe suture thread is formed of one or more threads or comprises a loopportion.
 6. A suture thread formed of two or more threads, wherein oneend of the suture thread is coupled to a suture thread support body thathas two or more holes through which the suture thread passes, each holehaving a diameter larger than that of the suture thread and thatprevents one end of the suture thread from being pulled into skin ortissue, and the other end of the suture thread is connected to a sutureneedle.
 7. A needle accommodation body having a shape of a tube having athrough-hole through both ends or a shape of a tube having athrough-hole through both ends in which a diameter of the through-holeincreases from one end portion to the other end portion, no hole isprovided in a wall surface of the needle accommodation body or one ormore holes are provided in the wall surface of the needle accommodationbody, and a suture needle is inserted in the through-hole.
 8. A suturethread support body being coupled to one end of a suture thread, havinga diameter larger than that of the suture thread, having two or moreholes through which the suture thread passes, and preventing the end ofthe suture thread from being pulled into skin or tissue.